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DHEC says justices should hear port case

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The state’s highest court is the appropriate place to argue a lawsuit over the Savannah River port, South Carolina’s environmental agency said in a court filing today.

Without responding officially to a lawsuit filed this month by several environmental groups, the Department of Health and Environmental Control agreed with the groups that a legal challenge should be heard by the state Supreme Court.

The court has not said if it will hear the case.

The lawsuit was filed this month on behalf of the Savannah Riverkeeper, the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League, the South Carolina Wildlife Federation and the Conservation Voters of South Carolina. In their complaint, the groups asked the justices to declare illegal a state agency’s permit approval for a $600 million deepening of the Savannah River shipping channel, saying the issue questions the proper governance of South Carolina.

Georgia wants the channel deepened so its port can handle the larger ships that will routinely call when the Panama Canal is widened in two years. Environmental groups worry about the impact of the deepening on fragile wetlands on the South Carolina side of the river. And South Carolina lawmakers have said the approval gives an advantage to the Georgia ports that are in fierce competition with Charleston, which also wants its channel deepened to handle the larger ships.

The suit alleges that a recent water quality certification for the project by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control was illegal because five years ago, state lawmakers gave authority over river dredging decisions to the South Carolina Savannah River Maritime Commission.

As part of a turf war with Gov. Nikki Haley, South Carolina lawmakers recently passed a law retroactively suspending DHEC’s ability to make dredging decisions involving the river. It also reiterated that such decisions are the authority of the Maritime Commission. Haley vetoed the law only to have her veto overridden by the General Assembly, with all but one lawmaker in both houses voting to override.

Last fall, Haley asked the DHEC board she appointed to hear Georgia’s appeal of the water quality permit after the agency staff initially denied the certification. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal earlier flew to Columbia to meet with Haley, and Haley said Deal made a reasonable request and she did not pressure the board for a specific outcome.

Minutes before the appeal was to be heard, the agency reached a settlement with the Georgia Ports Authority and Army Corps of Engineers. Without debate, the DHEC board approved the settlement, and officials signed it five days later.

Later, appearing before hundreds of people who work in the maritime industry in Charleston, Haley said that South Carolina got more than expected out of the deal with Georgia, including a 50-year commitment to maintain wetlands and control dissolved oxygen levels along the river.

The Savannah River Maritime Commission is already appealing the certification through the State Administrative Law Court.

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